The art of snowboarding is an amalgam of technology derived principally from the ski and skateboard industries. Ski industry manufacturers provided high technology snowboard construction, "rigid downhill" and flexible "cross country" boots and bindings. Skateboard manufacturers provided the board plan configuration. More importantly, skateboarding provided the riding techniques necessary for so many of the "tricks" available to the snowboard rider.
The desire by snowboard riders to do all of the tricks available to the skateboarder has led to changes in both board, boot, and binding designs.
The downhill racing snowboard rider still uses high rigid boots similar to those used by downhill skiers. However, the freestyle riders are using shorter, more flexible hybrid and soft boots to allow more freedom for ankle movement.
The racing snowboard rider uses a plate binding which has dropped the release mechanism used with skis, kept the toe and heel clamps and added a mechanism for canting and binding angle adjustment.
Those snowboard riders who delight in freestyle action use either snowboard bindings from which the toe and heel clamps have been removed and straps added or "step-in" bindings which have dropped the straps and added toe and heel clamps.
The shorter softer boots still provide much of the protection for the ankle that is provided by the taller, harder boot while providing freedom for the rider with respect to the board. Still more freedom is required if the rider is to emulate all of the tricks, e.g., "tweaking out", available to the skateboarder.
This invention provides the additional freedom needed for such tricks. It allows the rider to adjust the pitch of the binding, so that the front and rear legs are more parallel with the plane of the body of the board. At the same time, it provides the across board rigidity and binding positioning necessary for snowboard riders to change their stance by changing the exterior angle (cant) of each of the board anchor and/or boot anchor vis a vis their alignment with the length of the board.